Cricket 1913

Jun e 21, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 311 Cr i cket ; A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 125 , STRAND, LONDON, W.C. S A T U R D A Y , J U N E 2 1, 1913. Letters for the Editor should be addressed to M r. J. N. P en telow , Malvern, Steyning, Sussex. Advertisements, Subscriptions, &c., should be sent to : The Manager of C ricket, 1 2 5 , Strand, W.C. The following are the subscription rates :— United, Kingdom. One Year ... ... ... 6s. 3 d. The 24 Summer Numbers 5 s. Od. The 6 Winter Numters ... Is. 3 d. A broad. 7 s. 6d. 6s. Od. Is. 6d. fliavnlion ©osstp. Strange fascination of a wooden bat ! Weird magic hidden in a leathern ball! Ye clutch the heart as bands of hardened steel When baby summer calls us once again To close-trimmed tu rf; we say we will not go, But yet we go. D. L. A. J eph so n . W hat a tremendous difference the point o f view makes ! Here are extracts from four morning papers o f F riday last concerning the Essex v. Yorkshire match. Three o f them, it w ill be observed, while admitting slow­ ness, ju stify it. The fourth is o f quite another tenor. I did not see the game. I am not usually on the side o f the majority, but in this case I find m yself so. Though perhaps two runs off Rhodes in 45 minutes on a good wicket was just a little too patient ! “ A nice piece of bow ling,” doubtless, but------ methods o f the E ssex batsmen more than once flattered the bow ling.” L ike the Mail, the L ife is judicially balanced. But now comes along the Daily Chronicle, represented by the gentleman who wanted to see Cheshire ranked first-class. Headlines here :— “ E S S E X IN S L U M B E R L A N D . “ SLOW AND S L E E P Y B A T T I N G A G A IN S T Y O R K S H I R E .” And the report s a y s :— “ Leyton w ill soon be known as Lotus Land. It is there that spectators drowsily dream o f a game that was once alive. They can but dream o f it, for Essex batsmen seem resolved to deny their followers its reality.” T here is much more, but a sample like this is enough. Let it be admitted that it is the most readable stuff o f the lot. But it is twaddlesome. Where other critics, more competent, could see fine bowling and fielding and a struggle for runs, this scribe talks o f Lotus Land and sleepy batsmen. H irst — H aigh — Rhodes — Booth — D rake— K iln er : what a crowd o f duffers they must be to have taken over four hours to dismiss these sleepy batsmen ! O n the same page we have :— “ Scotland at the Oval. Good batting against strong Surrey team .” “ A fte r T ait le ft the batting became somewhat slow and tedious.” S omewhat slow and tedious ! Th irty runs in an j hour, 14 o f them extras ! I am not so much concerned to criticise that hour’s play, however, as to point out the essential injustice o f slating Essex fo r 55 runs an hour v. Yorkshire, and letting down Scotland ligh tly for 30 runs an hour v. Surrey. T hus the Daily M a il :— “ Inasmuch as Essex yester­ day at Leyton took four hours and a quarter to put together a total o f 233, it might readily be concluded that the cricket was dull. A s a matter o f fact, however, the Yorkshire bowling proved so exceptionally accurate and the fielding so smart that only batsmen o f the most enter­ prising description could have scored at any pace, and then only by taking risks that the circumstances scarcely justified. S till, it was rather remarkable . . . that on an easy-paced wicket Essex . . . should have averaged rather less than 55 runs an hour.” A t the moment o f writing no batsman has reached his thousand runs in first-class crick et; but Ph ilip Mead is practically certain to have done so before this appears, and W illiam Q uaife should not be long in follow ing him. M ead first played regularly for Hants in 1906 (after appearing in a match or two against colonial sides before completing his qualification), and he has topped thousand each season since, thus :— the T he D .M . is on the fence. The Sportsman is more definite :— “ The play was interesting always. First Essex retrieved a bad start, and appeared likely to master the strong attack, but the Yorkshire bowlers retrieved the situation. . . . Rhodes accomplished as nice a piece o f bowling as has been seen from him for some time. . . . H e had only two runs hit off him in three-quarters o f an hour, a result due to his perfect length.” Some people would say, however, that two runs and nary a wicket in such a spell was singularly resultless. Season. 1906 1907 1908 1909 The Date. August 16 August 19 August 17 August 9 “ place ” Place. 3 ° 20 31 20 Season. 1910 1911 1912 Date. August 8 July 10 June 29 Place. 15 14 3 is that in the list o f batsmen who reached four figures and represents the order in which they qualified for the list. Q uaife started 1896, and has only Here are his records, getting his thousand per season in missed one year (1907) since then, given in similar fashion to M ead’s :— S ays the Sporting L i f e :— “ Those who can only enjoy cricket when it is piquantly spiced must have had many dull moments yesterday at Leyton. . . A hit to the ring was hailed as a memorable achievement. But for all that the cricket was well worth w a tc h in g ............... always a real struggle for runs. But it must be added that the Season. Date. Place. Season. Da*e. Place. 1896 August 24 35 1904 July 19 17 1897 August 30 28 1905 June 29 8 1898 August 23 2T 1906 August 18 32 1899 July 31 20 1908 August 15 3 ° 1900 July 23 15 1909 August 14 28 1901 July 8 II 1910 August 31 36 1902 August 22 33 1911 August r1 4 6 1903 August 12 27 1912 August 16 35